Mona Ellis
February 2019
Mona
Ellis
,
RN, BSN
Inpatient Oncology 5800 Unit
UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital
Pittsburgh
,
PA
United States

 

 

 

I was very pleased and impressed with the care I received, especially from Mona Ellis, RN. She was one of the most compassionate and caring nurses that I have ever met.
I had surgery and had a difficult time coming out of anesthesia due to morphine. I awoke to a crowd of people in my room and hearing things such as ABG'S, intubation, transfer to the unit and Narcan. As a Registered Nurse, these words were very familiar to me and I knew it was not good. I looked up and saw Mona was adjusting my IV. She was very calming and explained what was going on. She told me that my CO2 levels were elevated because of the morphine and I was going in and out of consciousness. I asked her to call my daughter, not knowing that my daughter was still in the room. They were planning to give me Narcan. Why were they going to give me Narcan? Mona explained that it was the morphine causing me to react like that. She said she was giving me IV fluids to attempt to reduce the CO2 levels. I became frightened and asked Mona if she would stay with me. She reassured me that she would not leave my side, and if she had to, she would make sure that my daughter or the PCT would be there.
All throughout the night, Mona was at my bedside, only leaving to converse with the physicians or to attend to another patient. I felt safe and I knew that I was going to be okay because Mona was there. I did recover and did not need to go to the unit. Before Mona left in the morning, she made sure to stop in and see me. I asked her if she was working that night and I asked if she could be my nurse again. Mona got me through a terrible crisis and I want to thank her. When my grandson came in that night, I told him all about Mona and what a wonderful nurse she was. When she came into my room, my grandson ran over to her, gave her a big hug, and said: "Thank you for saving my Grandma last night!"
Ms. Ellis was very professional throughout the whole ordeal. She not only knew the best practice in the situation, but she used her knowledge and skills to get me through a crisis. she was a patient advocate. Most importantly she was my guardian angel that night and I would like to thank her for being a wonderful nurse. A nurse UPMC should be proud of!